CSR adding GPS to Bluetooth expertise
Simultaneously with
announcing a spiffing set of financial
results, the UK's CSR has painted a picture of its diminishing reliance on
Bluetooth-only chipsets. GPS is obviously its next focus. The company is
working to integrate the technologies it inherited through its Nordnav
Technologies and Cambridge Positioning Systems acquisitions. It is hoping to
ship a single chip that incorporates Bluetooth, GPS (including the radio),
FM transmit and receive, and ULP (Ultra Low Power) Bluetooth by Q1 2009.
UItra Wide Band (UWB) is another technology that can be also be utilised to
provide Bluetooth and CSR is hoping to sample a UWB chip in Q3-Q4 2008. However,
CSR seems to be putting a lot of effort into developing GPS with the cellular
phone market in mind. The company recently announced that it has joined with
Motorola to launch the EGPS (Enhanced GPS) Forum. CSR has successfully already
demonstrated an EGPS concept of hybrid navigation technologies which blend data
such as timing information from cellular sites with GPS positioning. The aim is
to provide much better indoor coverage for handset location than can be provided
by the much-maligned alternative A-GPS (Assisted GPS). It is also seeking to
pump up its reputation as a chip supplier claiming it is "consistently rated as
one of the top three semiconductor companies in the world in terms of product
quality." It claims to be regularly shipping in excess of one million chips per
day and to have the capacity to handle more. Its recent design wins include
handsets from LG, Samsung and BenQ; headset design wins from Sony and Samsung;
plus automotive design wins from Ford and Toyota.
The full Inquirer story ...
here
www.csr.com
www.egpsforum.org
